Saturday, December 26, 2015

THE SEASON FOR GIVING - GIVE ME A BREAK

A great way to keep up with the political parties is to subscribe to their e-mail lists.Many believe that modern elections are won, or lost, through micro-campaigning - narrow-casting the messages to smaller segments of the electorate. The key to unlocking and reaching this support is through targeted phone calls, direct messages, e-mail and door-to-door canvassing. It is very scientific and involves profiling, studying as much data as possible about individuals as is legally possible. It is no different than the way corporations data mine to determine the best location for stores and target potential customers. The better your list, the more effectively you can tailor the message using sophisticated data analysis that not only predicts how you are liable to vote but also the probability that you'll donate to the cause. Money is the source of all success. Frankly, I think these past two elections threw the "scientific campaign" on its ears. That is not to say that those running the campaigns did not micro-target and use the mined data they acquired to great effect. I am simply saying, the fix was in. The Harper Conservatives and the Davis Progressive Conservatives were dead on arrival. In the federal case it was a matter of which federal opposition leader was going to break free from the pack and distinguish themselves. Trudeau painted a progressive vision that reflected Canadian beliefs, values and principles. He offered the best alternative to getting our country back. Mulcair stumbled and drove his party, and a lot of good candidates, onto the rocks.Provincially, it was not an issue of if the Liberals would win, but by how much. The key was not to rock the boat, a couple of years of not attracting negative media about candidates, policy or personalities prevailed. Steady has she goes while the PC's self-destructed.Winning a nomination was tantamount to winning a seat in the House of Assembly. With the exception of about 10 seats the war was over before the first shot was fired. Even with the thirst for change, sophisticated databases and cheap IVR campaigns, only 55% of the electorate voted, down from the 2011 turn-out of a whopping 57.9%The distain for Conservatives was born out of their own arrogance, poor communication and failures on the economic front. It was simply a matter of throwing out the bums in the hopes the alternative was better. Can't be any worse, right!Back to the micro targeting, financing and those bloody e-mail lists. Having been a donor to one party but a subscriber to all, no one was more overdramatic and annoying than those pesky, relentless poor mouthed New DemocratsI have been a monthly donor to the provincial Liberal Party and for years & I contributed monthly to the Avalon Federal Riding Association. I stopped supporting the riding association last spring as a protest to the party's obfuscation of M.P. Scott Andrews. Leave it to me to campaign with the sole independent out of principle and miss the chance to ride the Liberal bandwagon back to power. Even with the defeat, I would gladly do it again. Perhaps, I dynamited yet another bridge - but I will take loyalty to friends and a fairer process which over stabbing good people in the back anytime. Today, I had to finally unsubscribe from the NDP. They are relentless, even over the holidays. The final straw, today's NDP Boxing Day Sale offering donors 75% back. Enough is enough. It is the holidays, leave people alone.